Super Monkey Ball may not be the highest-profile franchise around, but who wouldn’t want to see it return? If the phrase magical spell is ei-ei-poo means anything to you, this one’s for you.
Before we get into the real meat of the whole thing, you might need a little refresher. The Monkey Ball series hasn’t seen a new release since the super-obscure Super Monkey Ball Bounce back in 2014, after all.
Essentially, what we’re looking at here is a series of arcade platformers starring an adorable quartet of monkeys: MeeMee, AiAi, GonGon, and Baby. The aim is to steer your simian buddy - who is encased in a hamster-style ball - around a precarious course to the finish line, nabbing collectable bananas along the way for bonus points. The kicker is that you don’t (through most of the series) control said ball directly. Rather, you move the environment itself to create a safe path.
It’s madcap arcade fun (the giant banana-shaped controller that’s been used in actual arcades has to be seen to be believed), and the franchise has developed quite a fanbase since its 2001 debut in Japanese arcades. Later that year, Super Monkey Ball was released as a GameCube launch title, and it has appeared on everything from iOS to the NGage (remember that?) since.
We’ve been hearing rumblings since May that the franchise was going to return, but now Famitsu has confirmed it, as per this tweet:
There we are, then. More monkey madness is coming to a home console near you in October. The plot then thickens, however, as Sega has just confirmed that the game is going to be a remake of Wii launch title Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz. This was the seventh installment in the franchise, and was quite solid (if darn tough with the Wiimote control scheme). What do you think, Monkey Ball fans? Are you happy with this announcement, or would you have preferred some brand-new monkey action? Heck, it's good to see the franchise return in some form or another, at any rate.